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I wonder with more frequency every day if there will ever truly be a solution to the problem of rising health care costs in the US. I see a lot of posts here su

I wonder with more frequency every day if there will ever truly be a solution to the problem of rising health care costs in the US. I see a lot of posts here suggesting that privatization should be removed, and any jobs lost that are related to the current industry will be unfortunate byproducts of getting rid of a broken system; a necessary evil that will ultimately make way for a health care system that is both cheaper and available to all. It's tempting and easy to adopt that line of thinking given where, I would suspect most of us here, are at in our lives from a career and financial perspective. As a software developer, it's easy for me to switch jobs and make a good wage. I can weather most unforeseen costs. In the decade plus that I spent working blue collar jobs for a very low wage, I would've been screwed if I'd lost my job. This speaks to a much larger problem that is consuming the US every day. I don't have any answers, but I can empathize with those who fear their livelihoods being taken away, even if saving those jobs has a net negative effect on the economy and job market. There isn't a day that goes by, especially in today's political climate, where I'm not thankful for having the opportunity to put myself in a better position. I'm the outlier, though. Most people can never bring themselves up out of poverty.

analog31 8y ago
...any jobs lost that are related to the current industry will be unfortunate byproducts of getting rid of a broken system I'm tempted to argue that an equal number of jobs are lost every day to the opportunity cost of people not taking business risks due to the added risk of losing their healthcare, myself included. My optimistic vision is that the economic growth resulting from removing this burden will absorb the displaced workers, plus create even more jobs on top of that.
- nojvek 8y ago
  We forget. This isn’t going to happen overnight. Sure people will lose jobs, but not millions overnight. Imagine how many humans are spending their lives doing busy work. We can free them up to do better things. Imagine how many good doctors have to join a medical factory where they churn out patients and slap big bills. Going solo doesn’t make sense. Just the way cloud made it so Indie hackers can build great products with a small team, Healthcare needs this “cloud” like system which takes care of all the unnecessary bullshit related to insurance and payments so they can focus on the core of providing great service and making people healthier.
  - analog31 8y ago
    Going one step further, just eliminate insurance, and the entire billing system becomes unnecessary. My mom had an experience in a country with national health care. She got injured while hiking, and got treated at the clinic in the first town she reached. Whey they were done, she asked how to pay. They said: "You don't pay for health care." Well, what about foreigners? It turned out they simply didn't have any way of figuring out a price or taking her money. Those mechanisms didn't exist. It was probably cheaper for them to dish out free care to a few foreigners, than to manage a complete billing and collection infrastructure.
knuththetruth 8y ago
The problem with this logic is that things like insurance companies are making decisions that bankrupt and even kill people every day, for their own profit. That’s the reality of privatized healthcare. I empathize with the people who would lose their livehoods as well, but not above people who are broke or dying, right now, because of how terrible the American healthcare system is.
- throwaway37585 8y ago
  > That’s the reality of privatized healthcare. What makes you say this a problem with "privatized healthcare" rather than a systemic problem with how it works in the U.S.?
deleted 8y ago
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brandonmenc 8y ago
If we had a similarly broken system for say, acquiring groceries, no one would even question firing everyone involved to replace it with something different for the greater good.
- paulcole 8y ago
  Trust me, if somebody was getting rich off of selling groceries and they had managed to convince the people who hadn't starved yet that things were fine and anybody who couldn't afford groceries was a freeloader, nothing would change.

analog31 8y ago

...any jobs lost that are related to the current industry will be unfortunate byproducts of getting rid of a broken system I'm tempted to argue that an equal number of jobs are lost every day to the opportunity cost of people not taking business risks due to the added risk of losing their healthcare, myself included. My optimistic vision is that the economic growth resulting from removing this burden will absorb the displaced workers, plus create even more jobs on top of that.

nojvek 8y ago
We forget. This isn’t going to happen overnight. Sure people will lose jobs, but not millions overnight. Imagine how many humans are spending their lives doing busy work. We can free them up to do better things. Imagine how many good doctors have to join a medical factory where they churn out patients and slap big bills. Going solo doesn’t make sense. Just the way cloud made it so Indie hackers can build great products with a small team, Healthcare needs this “cloud” like system which takes care of all the unnecessary bullshit related to insurance and payments so they can focus on the core of providing great service and making people healthier.
- analog31 8y ago
  Going one step further, just eliminate insurance, and the entire billing system becomes unnecessary. My mom had an experience in a country with national health care. She got injured while hiking, and got treated at the clinic in the first town she reached. Whey they were done, she asked how to pay. They said: "You don't pay for health care." Well, what about foreigners? It turned out they simply didn't have any way of figuring out a price or taking her money. Those mechanisms didn't exist. It was probably cheaper for them to dish out free care to a few foreigners, than to manage a complete billing and collection infrastructure.

knuththetruth 8y ago

The problem with this logic is that things like insurance companies are making decisions that bankrupt and even kill people every day, for their own profit. That’s the reality of privatized healthcare. I empathize with the people who would lose their livehoods as well, but not above people who are broke or dying, right now, because of how terrible the American healthcare system is.

throwaway37585 8y ago
> That’s the reality of privatized healthcare. What makes you say this a problem with "privatized healthcare" rather than a systemic problem with how it works in the U.S.?

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

brandonmenc 8y ago

If we had a similarly broken system for say, acquiring groceries, no one would even question firing everyone involved to replace it with something different for the greater good.

paulcole 8y ago
Trust me, if somebody was getting rich off of selling groceries and they had managed to convince the people who hadn't starved yet that things were fine and anybody who couldn't afford groceries was a freeloader, nothing would change.